Vigilante Citizens: The new enforcers of law and order in Ghana.

On the 6th and 7th of January, Ghanaians watched in shock and disbelief as members of parliament grabbed ballot boxes, snatched ballots and engaged in all forms of reprehensible behaviour in their ‘desire’ to maintain law and order. What makes this all unbelievable and ridiculous is the people engaging in this behaviour were members of parliament who are supposed to uphold the law. Unfortunately, however, the rhetoric following this event has been a justification of actions from both sides of the house — NPP and NDC.

The MPs actions have implications for law and society as it reinforces the narrative of the ineffectiveness of the police and their partiality to those with power. Citizens who engaged in ballot snatching in the just ended national elections were swiftly arrested. One person was purportedly shot. It is therefore disappointing that the MPs got away with ballot snatching. In fact, some of them made it home, changed clothes and attended the inauguration of the president-elect, Nana Akufo Addo.

Goldstein in his 2003 publication ‘In our own hands: Lynching, justice and the law in Bolivia,’ asserts that people view the law through actual practice and not legislation. The MPs behaviour suggests that the law can be abused when one feels sufficiently aggrieved or when one wants to “protect” the law.

Stakeholders in Ghana often view vigilante behaviour from a teleogical perspective, what this means is that rather than admitting that such behaviour is a breach of law and is probably caused by the distrust people have with the Police as enforcers of the law (let’s not forget that armed military men were summoned), this behaviour is viewed as legitimate because it had a ‘purpose’ which was to protect the law. An example can be taken from the actions of Mr. Carlos Ahenkorah, the MP who snatched ballots and how he justified his behaviour. He wrote “I did it for the grassroots who relied on us in power to survive, the president who needs some peace to run the country and the greater NPP party as a whole…I apologise but I tried!!!” His apology at the end which came with a caveat, “I tried!!!” appears insincere. The consequence of this is that he is now seen as a hero by some members of his party because of his actions. In similar vein, the opposition MP, Mr. Mubarak Muntaka who escalated the incident by snatching a ballot box is also being praised by members of his party as resisting the oppressor’s rule.

For a country like Ghana with a problem of mob violence or ‘justice’ as it’s more often termed, one would think that representatives that have been entrusted power with will lead the way but power has only elevated so-called vigilant acts to the national level thereby validating its use among ordinary citizens.

Perpetuators of vigilante violence conjure up endless reasons to justify their appalling behaviours. The vigilantes that beat and banish women from their communities claimed they were protecting their community from these so- called witches. The party foot soldiers who steal ballot boxes and attack their political opponents say they are protecting their party’s votes. The citizens who beat and sometimes murder alleged thieves claim to be protecting public safety. The MPs who snatched ballot boxes in the house of parliament claim to be protecting democracy and their political party’s interest.

Ironically, these vigilantes break the law in their so-called effort to enforce and protect it, thereby undermining the safety of everyone.